Released in 2009. This is the best whisky I tried for the first time in 2019. The 3 best whiskies I tried from 2019 were from Bruichladdich: Octomore 2.1, PC5, and PC8. This PC8 is the best of the three. All three served hard regret because I missed the renaissance of Bruichladdich and the chance to purchase the first few distillates matured by the WhiskyGod Jim McEwan when he took over at Bruichladdich at retail price. I still happily found a bottle of this on the secondary market, and this is probably the best $250 I have spent on a bottle of whisky. That first whiff of PC8 fresh out of the bottle at 60.5% ABV is like smelling the Universe when it was 10^-12 seconds after the Big Bang, when the fundamental building blocks of matter as we know it has not yet formed. You do not know what you are nosing for the first instant, and it takes a second for this mental image of a coiled snake soaked in acetone and petrol, emitting jet black smoke, forms. You can taste this without water for shits and giggles. It is like ingesting an unexploded bomb. The ethanol level is aggressive, but the actual mouthfeel is thin. You get wood varnish, chlorhexidine, butyric acid, and some other chemicals; and an ashy finish. It is clean, in a sterile kind of way. I recommend adding water and drinking this at 45-50% ABV to uncoil this beast. The flavors explode, and the mouthfeel thickens to a molten candlewax. There are sharp tart notes and peppercorns and broad savory notes of Tonkotsu broth. A medicinal smoke is strong throughout, and this is as much a peat monster as any Octomore. The finish envelops the soul. This reminds me of Port Ellen, except remastered and in HD. So ashy but so characterful. Ginger skins, lemon skins, oysters in soy sauce, composting in the summer. And it has a chestwarming, throatscratching burn that is a flaw in most whiskies because it is unearned. This one earned the burn, and is literally off my charts good. Score: **** (I rated my own piss after drinking this one star, or on par with Talisker 10) How much does a bottle cost on the secondary market: $250-500 How much do I think a bottle is worth: $600